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Former Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov has died at 73

Sergei Ivanov, a former Russian defense minister once seen as a possible successor to President Vladimir Putin, has died at age 73 in Moscow.

Putin appointed Ivanov, a fellow KGB veteran, to lead the defense ministry in 2001, where he oversaw the war in Chechnya until 2007.

His death marks the end of a key figure from the early era of Putin's leadership.

  • Ivanov was born in 1952 and joined the KGB in 1970.
  • The Chechen war Ivanov oversaw lasted from 1999 to 2009.
  • Putin and Ivanov both served in the same KGB unit in East Germany.
Former Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov has died at 73 | Implica